The Bhopalites are enjoying the Rabindra Utsav 2013 with a lot of ecstasy. On fifth-day of the fest a dance drama Chandalika was staged at Antrang Hall, Bharat Bhavan.
The dance drama was presented by a noted Kathak exponent from Mumbai Moli Siddhartha. On Sunday, before presenting performance Moli was honoured with Rabindranath Tagore Art Award in Classical Dance 2013. Moli has been a performer of Kathak and Rabindra Nritya (Dance Dramas by Tagore) since her childhood.
She gave a splendid performance along with her troupe that mesmerized the audiences at the hall. Chandalika is a dance drama that was written by Rabindranath Tagore years ago. The dance drama Chandalika narrated the tragedy of ‘untouchability’ in the country. The play is an adaptation from Rabindranath Tagore’s work, Chandalika based on a story from a Buddhist text.
Moli presented the drama giving it a form of Kathak that was spell-binding for the audiences. “The stigma of untouchability still exists in our society on the basis of caste, creed and gender,” said choreographer and director of the play Moli Siddharth. This kind of discrimination between the urban and rural community has given an opportunity to the rise of exploitation and agitation among the people, she added. It is a Bengali dance drama by Rabindranath Tagore focuses on this issue and a stern step took by a poor untouchable girl ‘Prakrati’.
The play focuses on Prakrati on stage and she seems upset and demean. Suddenly the follower of Gautam Budh ‘Ananda’ appears before her and asks for some water to drink. She tells him of being an untouchable, but Ananda treats her as a normal human being. Being captivated towards him and rejected Prakriti compels her mother (Moli Siddharth) to cast a magic spell on him.
In the meanwhile, Prakriti’s heart goes through a change and realising her follies, she asks her mother to take back the spell on the cost of her mother’s life. She and her mother ask forgiveness from Ananda and he welcomes them in Buddhism.
The play follows the emotions of a human nature. While showing the conflict of love in its varied forms, the play shows the desolate reality of the society disparity, prejudice, exploitation and the universal search for love and happiness. The audiences were awestruck by the performance of the artists. It was a mass treat for the audiences to watch the dance drama Chandalika in such a unique way.